Easy Rabbit Casserole

Hunting is a very big part of our lives in this family, so wild game recipes are always welcome. I thought I would share a recipe for a dish I made with a rabbit my husband brought me from a successful hunt.

Hubby cleans and skins the rabbit, and then I take over. I put the rabbit in my slow cooker, and almost cover with water. I season with various spices including salt, pepper, onion, garlic, and oregano. You can add whatever you like. I cook at a medium temperature for a few hours, or till the meat starts to fall off of the bones. At this point I remove the rabbit from the broth. I strain the broth, and set it back. I pick all the meat off of the bones. This is usually very easy to do at this point. It pretty much just falls off in your hand. Be careful of small bones. I cut up any larger pieces into bite size chunks. Now I take a small portion of the meat and add it back into the broth. This gets put into the fridge to make another meal with. That’s right, two meals from one rabbit! It usually gets made into some sort of soup or stew. That will be a recipe for another blog.

Now you have cooked and de-boned rabbit cut into bite sized pieces. I used this to make a casserole that my family has repeatedly asked for again. I took one of those boxed pasta salad mixes, I think it was the bacon ranch kind, and prepared it per instructions on the box. I know that’s kinda cheating, but very easy! When it was done, I added my rabbit pieces, some butter, and some cheese cut into chunks. Use your favorite kind of cheese, or combine a few kinds. I poured this mixture into a baking dish and topped with a little more cheese, (more is better) and sprinkled the whole thing with seasoned bread crumbs. Just heat this in a 350 degree oven till heated through. Absolutely yummy!